1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sports training device useable for both indoor and outdoor training sessions, linked to a communication network capable of connecting multiple remote users in shared training sessions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Indoor sports training devices are well-known in the state of the art and are commonly used by professional users as well as sports enthusiasts. Initially, said devices were conceived as alternatives to outdoor training, for cases where the user did not wish to leave an enclosed precinct in order to practice sport, due, for example, to the weather conditions outside, the comfort of exercising in one's own home, or the convenience of combining a specific training exercise with other sports practices, which can all be practiced in the same enclosure. Widely disclosed examples are treadmills, which are very common in gyms and sports centres, stationary bicycles or rowing machines, among many others.
Despite the fact that the above examples of indoor training systems offer an adequate solution for many users in their usual practice, the aforesaid devices still present several drawbacks which the state of the art has not yet resolved, mostly related to the main disadvantage that said indoor devices present against practicing exercise outdoors, i.e., the lack of a natural environment (whether urban or rural) where the activity can be performed, often causing users the sensation that the exercise has become repetitive or boring, and leading occasionally to the loss of interest in the activity or even abandonment of the sports practice. Another problem resulting from indoor training devices, in cases where said devices allow electronic analyses to be made of the exercise performed (by studying the distances run, the speed, the resistance that the device applies as the user progresses, etc.) is their incompatibility with simultaneous planning of outdoor exercise, because there is no tool to provide a common reference framework that can integrate the two types of training naturally, whereby the user can view both types jointly (through a common data acquisition and analysis system) in a unified training plan. This incompatibility can cause the user to perceive indoor training as a less effective alternative to outdoor training, which can only be carried out independently in respect of the former.
The present invention aims to resolve the aforesaid drawbacks, by means of a device that incorporates different elements for sports practice in both indoor and outdoor mode with training means that are easy to use, together with a simulator managed on the basis of the information generated by a Web application, which includes a customisable training system, in addition to recovery and analysis of the data generated by users during their sports practice. The aforesaid system helps to improve the quality of training and physical performance through a process, which users can configure by varying their training routines according to their requirements. Additionally, the invention allows practice by multiple users simultaneously, and can also be configured in competition mode, which provides a greater sensation of training, together with the possibility of integrating real training sessions performed outdoors so that they can later be reproduced during an indoor practice session using the simulator installed on the device, or of sharing them with other remote users, by means of the Web application. The device presents, also, the advantage of being able to record information on the user's physical condition (heart rate, blood pressure, calories burned, etc.), and also on the mechanical parameters of the training device employed (speed, acceleration, rotation, etc.), whether outdoors or indoors during the whole of the sports practice.